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Papa Juke is blues with a difference, blues with a heritage, blues with an attitude. Their intoxicating and infectious original sound is courageously creative and enticingly danceable. Their heart felt live performances are both hauntingly memorable and contagiously fun loving. You will go home after one of their shows strangely fulfilled yet still wanting more. Papa Juke is made up of Christine "the Spider" Webb on bass and vocals, Dave " Doc" Dougherty on guitar and vocals, Mad Dog Friedman on harmonica and vocals and Dan "the Dragon" Crecco on drums.

CHRISTINE "THE SPIDER" WEBB has been an integral force in the Colorado blues scene for nearly a decade. Before joining Papa Juke , she played most recently with Northern Blues recording artist, Dan Treanor . African Wind, Treanor's band, was a featured act at many of Colorado 's favorite festivals including the Winter Park Blues Festival, Trinidadio, the Greeley Blues Festival, the Lodo Fest, the Empire Blues Festival, Swallow Hill Folk Festival and the New West Fest. With African Wind, Christine opened up for dozens of national acts including Joe Bonamassa, Bernard Allison, Elvin Bishop, Chris Duarte, the Campbell Brothers, Carolyn Wonderland, Little Eddie and Jumpin' John Sansone. She has played numerous times as part of the Female Blues All Star Review and backed up Delores Scott of Chicago . Christine 's bass playing embraces many styles including swing, rhythm and blues , gospel, rock, blues and Celtic. As a vocalist, her influences include Bonnie Raitt , Rory Block , Big Mama Thornton, Irma Thomas , Etta James , Eva Cassidy , Norah Jones , Emmy Lou Harris and KD Lang . Her lively performances and amazing vocal talent complete Papa Juke 's unique sound and energetic live show.

Born in Philadelphia , DAVE " DOC " DOUGHERTY ( Doc k-er-tee) heard rock n' roll at a tender age and was hooked. His Mother, Elizabeth, bought him a Kay guitar in 7th grade. For Doc , there was no looking back. Early influences were the "British Invasion," specifically embodied by Keith Richards and Eric Clapton . What he didn't realize was that he was learning the blues through rock n' roll. Then in high school he heard Johnny Winter . It changed everything. He became a veteran of the Jersey shore resorts scene performing with his cousin in the largest resorts from Atlantic City to Wildwood. Later, he later performed with various bands in Philadelphia and perfected his driving, dynamic style. He quickly developed his own musical personality and became known for his rich sustains and wailing leads. He honed his song writing talents with the popular Philly group, Partly Dave. Upon moving to Fort Collins , he met Subdudes John Magnie , Steve Amedée and Tim Cook performing as the Three Twins. Doc sat in with them on occasion and was exposure and was introduced to many great area musicians. He performed for a couple years locally searching for the right band chemistry, becoming familiar with the Colorado music scene and gaining recognition. Doc brings to Papa Juke his own distinctive guitar style as well as a wealth of original songs and a plethora of new song ideas. For Doc , it's all about the song writing and creating together an original band sound. Papa Juke is the band Doc has always been waiting for to make his music complete. He truly believes the combined talents of Papa Juke have no boundaries.

The Colorado harmonica legend, MAD DOG FRIEDMAN, has long been renowned for his blistering leads, funky rhythms, and raw and soulful blues . When Mad Dog was 16 years old Jack Bruce of the Cream playing Train Time inspired him to take up the harmonica, and he has never put it down since then. His early influences include John Mayall , Son Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry, Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thorton, James Cotton , Mark Wenner , Norton Buffalo and Taj Mahal. More recently Sugar Blue, Jason Ricci , Carlos del Junco and Howard Levy never cease to amaze him. Mad Dog's song writing talent is exploding with the creative camaraderie and stylistic diversity of Papa Juke . Over the years Mad Dog has jammed with Ed Cassidy (the drummer of 1960's band, Spirit), Jason Ricci's New Blood, Sugar Blue, Michael Burks, Philip Walker and the Incredible String Band. Also on many separate occasions Mad Dog has played harp with Bob Margolin, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith -- all long time members of the former Muddy Waters' Band. Although originally from St. Louis , Mad Dog is a seasoned veteran of the Colorado music scene. After several tours of the state in the 1970's with the back porch blues acoustic duo, King Comfort, Mad Dog started expanding his stylistic repertoire in series of different of bands. In the 1980's and 1990's he opened for such acts as Marshal Tucker, Jerry Jeff Walker, Pure Prairie League, Country Joe McDonald, Asleep at the Wheel and Firefall. More recently Mad Dog has played at various blues festivals where the headliners included Koko Taylor, Room Full of Blues and Jason Ricci and the New Blood. There are not a lot of venues in Colorado or Wyoming or very many styles of music that Mad Dog has not played, but with Papa Juke, Mad Dog feels like he is returning to his blues roots and at the same time breaking new ground.

Its obvious from the downbeat that DAN "THE DRAGON" CRECCO is an extraordinary musician. Equally at home with blues , jazz, rock, country and classical, Crecco's smooth and multi-dimensional style demonstrates that he is no mere technician. Born in Bronxville , New York , Dan began playing percussion at age 8. In his early years he studied at Henry Adler 's Drum School in Manhattan , the drum workshop of choice for the era of drummers including Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Young Dan would play in symphonic bands during the day, practice at night and experiment with small combos on the weekend. After studying music at Southern Illinois University, Dan toured and honed his skills with several bands from Chicago to the Cairo Delta of Illinois playing an assortment of blues , fusion and progressive rock. Moving back to New York in the late seventies, Dan spent most of his time as a studio musician at Dream Land Studios in downtown Manhattan playing with many of the new bands that emerged at the creative peak of that experimental era. Playing in front of appreciative crowds in clubs like Max's Kansas City , CBGB'sUmfug and the Kenny's Castaway made Dan a polished and highly sought after performer. Dan 's influences include Taj Mahal, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Winter , the Yardbirds, John Lee Hooker , Big Brother and the Holding Company, Big Mama Thornton, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley , Albert King and John Mayall . Dan moved to Colorado in 1994 inspired by the Rocky Mountains and was pleased to find an active and vibrant blues scene. After joining Papa Juke , he realized this is just the beginning of the journey.